Here at Exponential, we have a lot of data. We have our own proprietary Interest Based Audiences (IBAs), client data, and data we bring in from other parties to supplement our own. When referring to the different types of data, it’s important to get the terminology right.

This all goes back to basic grammar. First-party (or person) is me and second-party is you (the audience I am directly addressing). Third party is someone else who isn’t first or second party. When applying this to data, the grammar mechanics are relatively the same – with a tweak on second-party data (more on that below).

When looking at data, one should always be from the viewpoint of those who actually use the data (i.e. the client). Therefore, first-party data (1st) is always the client’s own data. This can be website visits or conversion data from a pixel, CRM data or data they have stored with a DMP (e.g. purchase data). This data can then be used for the customer’s own campaigns in retargeting, optimization and insights. First-party data is what every advertiser wants. It is unique to the advertiser or client, and tends to be the most efficient in terms of performance. It is, however, often limited in scale.

Second-party (2nd) is the ‘you’, someone the client is talking to or has a direct relationship with. From the online data perspective, this is quite new. It’s a relationship between the client and a publisher site for example, where the client has an agreement to access the publisher data or certain subsets. Imagine a brand who partners with a retail site in their vertical so they can gather unique information on visitors researching online, and then serve them customized ads for a specific product. This set of data allows the client to expand their data pool whilst maintaining some exclusivity.

Finally, third-party data (3rd) is someone else’s data, as in not the client’s and not second-party – for example, data gathered from BlueKai, I-Behavior, Nielsen and so on. These are data partners who aggregate and sell their data for clients to use in campaigns and analytics. This data is not unique to the client, but can provide much needed scale. It can also provide targeting the client wouldn’t be able to access, such as offline purchase data.

Exponential would also be included in this group from a client’s perspective; however, the difference with our proprietary data is we don’t sell it externally and only those who work with us have access to it, making it still relatively unique to our clients.

1st and 3rd party data sources are still the most common, although 2nd party is growing. Ultimately, the best data to use depends on campaign goals, but it’s important to be aware of the benefits of each and use the right terminology when referring to the different options.

About the Author: Lucinda Goucher

As Exponential's manager of product strategy and operations, Lucinda Goucher is responsible for Exponential’s audience-based targeting products and data partner integration globally.
Prior to Exponential, Lucinda spent two and a half years at the social media agency Techlightenment, working on insights and social media strategy for a range of clients. Lucinda has a degree in French and Russian from the University of Bristol.